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April 28

Monday, April 28th, 2025

I will be out of town for the next few days (back Wednesday) watching our grandson play high school baseball and also visiting with Janna and the clan. I’m posting this today but unless something happens where I feel I can post easily, I won’t be back until Thursday.

In my last post I wrote about Prince Thomas and the feeling that he had of being called to something, but he wasn’t sure what it was. His Uncle David told him to “bide his time, that if God was calling him, he would be tracked down in God’s time, not his own.” As the book (Dancing Prince) shows, his calling was to become the next king after his father, King Michael, relinquished the throne. I also mentioned that I would share my own journey about being called.

My mother told me once that as far as she could remember, I always talked about being a preacher. I remember it differently. 🙂 I always wanted to play professional baseball and then when I grew so quickly between my 8th & 9th grade, I took up basketball. I was so bad that I could not dribble and walk at the same time. The coach had me learn on the sidelines while the team was practicing. Eventually I got so I could do both and learned to love basketball. So much so, that when I was in an awkward age to play baseball (there was no team for my age), basketball took over. I soon wanted to get good enough to play college then professional ball. Well, several things stacked up against me on that. I was 6’3″; I wasn’t a good ball handler; and I sat the bench. Even as a Senior my coach decided to play underclassmen preparing for the next year or two. (It backfired. They did terribly).

Between my Freshman and Sophomore year in college, I made a solid commitment to Christ and to follow Him where ever. If that meant, the ministry then so be it.  I played basketball and studied… hard since nothing came easy to me. I decided not to play ball my senior year because I wanted better grades, was preaching on the weekends, and…oh yeah…got married. 🙂 I preached at a little country church for almost two years and then became a youth pastor closer to the school. After graduation, I was an Associate Pastor in Akron, OH where I was officially ordained on April 13, 1975. But I always wanted to preach and so the next church was a five-year preaching ministry in a small town (not even a stop light) in Ohio. In my 50 years of ministry I have been to Ohio, Indiana, back to Ohio, back to Indiana, back to Ohio and now back to Indiana for the past 19 years.  (The 19 best years of my ministry life).

There have been a lot of ups and downs, mistakes, foot-in-mouth disease, victories, losses, joy, sadness, but in all of it I know God was there. I have absolutely no doubt I am doing exactly what God designed me to do: Preach His Word and love His people. I wouldn’t trade one moment of His pleasure for all the money in the world.

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Burning Hearts – April 27

Friday, April 25th, 2025

 

Have you ever noticed that God sometimes does things totally opposite of what we think He will do or something totally unexpected? He is a God of surprises.

We often hear or make the statement that “God has His hand in things.” Honestly, when we look around we have cause to wonder. Does He have His hand in the national stage? Russia/Ukraine. Israel/Palestine.  And how about closer to home? Lawlessness. Distrust. Hatred. Violence. Our own personal desires to be first and to have our own way. On the surface things do look bad…really bad. But underneath it all is a belief that God has got this all under control. I don’t know how and I certainly can’t presume upon Him on how to do His job, but nothing that has happened or will happen flusters Him. He is not surprised. But He often does things which surprise us!

This Sunday’s message is entitled Our God Reigns! and is taken from 2 Kings 1-19.  He is a God of surprises. True. But He is also a God of His Word. He will never contradict Himself or go against His Written Word. We will be talking about Ahab & Jezebel, Elijah, Elisha, Naaman, and a host of other characters. I invite you to join us in person at 9:00 and 10:45. We also live stream both services if you are unable to be with us in person. You can send a request to join our Facebook Group at Owen Valley Christian Fellowship or view our public page at Owen Valley Christian Fellowship-Spencer, In. Or you can watch via YouTube at Owen Valley Christian Fellowship. I look forward to seeing you or hearing from you online. And let me ask you to do me a favor: please let us know you are watching and then feel free to comment-yay or nay. If you have any questions, please ask and I will get back to you. Thanks. And thanks for praying for us.

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April 24

Thursday, April 24th, 2025

Have you ever felt called to do something? Sometimes you knew what it was and sometimes you were clueless and had to sit back and wait. (Don’t you just love waiting?) In Book #5 of the Dancing Priest series by Glynn Young, the issue of calling was huge. Prince Thomas, the youngest child of Michael and Sarah Kent-Hughes, struggled with his calling. Compounding the questions and the whole situation was his relationship with his father. During his early years, while King Michael was engulfed in Government he became close to his mother, Queen Sarah.  He was also a very bright and “feeling” boy/young man. When Angus McLin, an autistic boy, needed a friend, Thomas was that friend and they remained friends through adulthood. Angus flourished because of Thomas’ friendship and insight. But his closeness to his mother caused a rift between father and son. Michael’s jealousy and anger were always the elephant in the room. Prince Thomas also chafed against being a royal. 

Once, in a conversation with his oldest brother, Hank, and his wife, Hannah, the issue of calling came up. Hank was in line to be the next king and had even gone through the ceremony. In their conversation, Hank asks Thomas if he remember the story of Samuel’s anointing of David.  {Note: Samuel is impressed with David’s brothers but after each one he is reminded that God does not see as we see because while we look at the outside, God looks at the heart}.  Hank goes on to say, “I may have looked and acted the role, Tommy, but I don’t think I ever really had the heart for it…I was going through the motions; this wasn’t me. I wasn’t comfortable in this Prince of Wales skin. My head and heart were in the City; what set me on fire was how to harness investment and wealth to help people flourish.”

He paused. “But you do have a heart for it. Even when you were a boy, you seemed like you’d been called to it. You were always the serious one, the wise one. You understood things long before the rest of us did.” When Hank apologized to Thomas for handing this ball and chain to him, Thomas said he didn’t see it as that.  He then clarifies what he means. When he graduated from ICS (a Christian high school), he said, “I had a distinct impression that I was being called to do something. I thought I was being called to the priesthood, but that seemed off.”  Through his wrestling he spoke with his Uncle David (Sarah’s brother) who told him to bide his time, “that if God was calling me, I’d be tracked down in God’s time.”  Hank summed it up: “You were being called, but it wasn’t to the priesthood.”   (Edited from pages 334-336)

If you read Dancing Prince you will find the answer to that question and how that sense of calling was fulfilled. My next post will also give my personal testimony on that issue and I’ll tell you what happened to Thomas. 

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April 23

Wednesday, April 23rd, 2025

In my post yesterday, I repeated a discussion from Glynn Young’s Book #4 in the Dancing King series.  I’ll repeat it here:

King Michael and Queen Sarah were talking about when life was simpler and that it seemed like it was just yesterday when he studying and preaching  and she was expecting their first biological child. Michael laments that it seems so far away. The following is Sarah’s reply:

Sarah replies: “It was another life. Even if we don’t know what we’re doing, Mike, or what we should do, God does. The stuff that’s horrible or appalling or perplexing, He knows it. He has us both here for a reason, if we can’t fathom it and even if we want to be anywhere else but here. Mike, He’s ripping the lid off the sewer; it’s just hard to be one of the workers He sends in to clean out the pipes.” (p.222)

I wanted to comment more on what she said but word count put a limit on what I said. So I thought I would make a comment or two today. First, what prompted Michael and Sarah’s musing has been, unfortunately, headline true. The Church of England, of which Michael was an ordained priest, was having the lid blown off its sex abuse scandal-the coverup and moving around of pedophile priests who maimed over a thousand boys mentally and spiritually. That is a heavy weight for any to carry, especially a fictitious king and queen whose God-inspired and God-involved life had been radically interrupted, first by becoming king and queen of England; second, by the government’s inability to function; and third, by the exploding scandal involving the church. 

God places people where He wants and needs them. Sometimes it is often unexpected. I know I have used the phrase “Who da thunk it?” when referring to circumstances that defy logic. A person who seems to be out of their element performing a feat that defies explanation. Sort of the like the unexpected athlete who becomes a superstar or a gold medal winner. God does not make mistakes at any time, and that is especially true when placing people where He needs them. Some are shepherds of people and some, like Sarah says, are used to clean out the filth. I am old enough to remember the Christian singer, the late Keith Green, who was vilified and misunderstood because he dared talk, write and sing about hypocrisy and deadness in the life of the church and individual followers of Christ. Some used the term “prophet” which I hesitate using. He was fiery like a prophet of the Old Testament and his “take no prisoners” approach sure was in your face, but there was no compromise acceptable to Keith. Nor should there be for us.

God has placed you; He has placed me, exactly where He wants us to be. And while we may not understand it all, He is not asking us to. He is simply asking us to trust His way and work and be obedient. 

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April 22

Tuesday, April 22nd, 2025

As I have mentioned in several posts, I am rereading Glynn Young’s 5 part series called Dancing Priest. In fact, due to a schedule that allowed me to read a little more than usual in the evening, and a few later nights than normal, I have completed reading the series again. I plan to use the last two books in the series as inspiration for posts this week. 

I have a confession to make first. I have really struggled with this post. NOT because of the book. It was fabulous. Well-written, holding my attention as each page wrapped me into the story, I struggled, not because of the story, but because of the subject matter. To clarify: I am not trying to scare anyone away, but you must be aware of the seriousness of the subject matter. Woven in the story of newly crowned King Michael and Queen Sarah Kent-Hughes, is a story so heart-wrenching I had to stop a few times to gather my emotions. King Michael is ready to get down to business serving the people of the UK, not knowing a looming scandal involving the Church of England (CoE)-of which he is an ordained priest- is about to rock his world. Michael is forced to take on the job of running the government because politicians do what politicians do best-fight each other and refuse to compromise and get along. (Hmmm sounds familiar).  In the midst of all of this, Michael is made aware by various different ways (one which involves his and Sarah’s adopted son, Jason), of the sexual abuse running rampant in the CoE.  I’m not going to go into detail on the scandal. You will have to read it yourself to find out more! 🙂

However, there is a discussion between King Michael and Queen Sarah that stuck out to me. As Michael was looking back over what was (his preparing and preaching) and Sarah was expecting their first child (Hank), he says, “It seems like decades, and another life.”

Sarah replies: “It was another life. Even if we don’t know what we’re doing, Mike, or what we should do, God does. The stuff that’s horrible or appalling or perplexing, He knows it. He has us both here for a reason, if we can’t fathom it and even if we want to be anywhere else but here. Mike, He’s ripping the lid off the sewer; it’s just hard to be one of the workers He sends in to clean out the pipes.” (p.222)

What a vivid description of what often has to happen to ugly situations. Rip the lid off the sewer and clean out the pipes. Spoiler alert: the subject matter is a clergy scandal of abuse which rapidly spreads. It is ugly. It is a sewer. But Glynn rips the lid off and gives us a whiff of the smell. Glynn could have taken this from the headlines. 

‘Nuff said. I’d suggest reading the book yourself. But start with #1.  And if you, or someone you love, is a victim of clergy abuse, report it and get help.

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April 21

Monday, April 21st, 2025

I was going to do my 5th installment of my thoughts on Glynn Young’s Dancing Priest series but decided to hold off a day because of the subject matter in Book #4. Instead, I wanted to focus on what yesterday (Resurrection Sunday) meant. There are so many directions to go in but I thought I might just summarize some of my thoughts from yesterday’s message.

The crucifixion of Christ was supposed to be Satan’s final act of devastation and death to Jesus. He thought He had won. But He didn’t know the God who was in charge and the power He had! That God was not limited like mere men. Instead, through the death, burial and resurrection of Christ He showed Himself to be unequaled. He showed Himself to be powerful. He showed Himself to be uncontainable. Perhaps most important of all, He showed Himself to be our one true hope when all seemed hopeless.

The late theologian, J.I. Packer, wrote, “While there’s life there’s hope, we say, but the deeper truth is that only while there’s hope is there life.”  Hope keeps us going. Take away hope and you take away a reason to keep plugging away. Where will we find that hope? Politics? Rhetoric spewed out by all sorts of people? Religion? The answer is No. No. And no. The only real answer is that hope is found only in Jesus, the Savior of the world, and His resurrection which, of course, we celebrated yesterday.

Sadly, we live in a hopeless and sadness-filled culture. There are so many who just give up and quit. They check out-mentally, socially, and tragically, permanently- because they have lost hope and meaning to life. That is why the resurrection of Christ from the dead, the greatest event in history, is so essential. It gives hope beyond the grave. It gives hope when all hope is lost. It gives hope when life says, “Let’s end this pain and misery.”

Did you know the first words of hope were not uttered in the New Testament? They were actually uttered in the Garden to Adam and Eve. God told the serpent the woman’s seed (Jesus) would crush the serpent’s head and all he would be able to do is strike his heel. (Gen. 3:15). There is a big difference between striking the head and striking the heel. When Jesus rose from the dead it was and still is the greatest event in history.

You can argue with this. I realize that. But let me leave you with a saying I learned long ago: “If you are right and I am wrong, I have lost nothing; but if I am right and you are wrong, you have lost everything.”  I will leave that thought with you today.

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April 17

Thursday, April 17th, 2025

“My hope is built on nothing less/Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness/I dare not trust the sweetest frame/But wholly lean on Jesus’ name/On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand, All other ground is sinking sand. When darkness veils His lovely face/I’ll rest on His unchanging grace/In every high and stormy day/My anchor holds within the veil/On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand, all other ground is sinking sand.” (Traditional)

I hate to say it since I am a contemporary worship kind of guy (except for most songs from Hillsong, Elevation, and Bethel), but sometimes the old hymns have it all over the newbies. Whether it is sung in a more traditional way and setting or in a more uptempo style, there is not much more that can be said about what this song is teaching. In his devotion for today, April 17, Paul David Tripp wrote this:

Thankfully, God is not like me. Nothing can thwart His will, nothing can challenge His rule, and nothing can stop the march of His grand redemptive plan. The hope and spiritual security of every believer rest on the fact that our Lord cannot be stopped. His rules rules. (Everyday Gospel Devotional-p.133)

That first phrase strikes a chord in me. “God is not like me.” I cannot even find the words to express my joy in them, other than to say, “I am so-o-o-o-o glad He is not like me.” I make a mess enough of things without doing it on a grand scale. When I am faithless, He is faithful. When I am fearful, He is fearless. When I am blind, He is light. When I am wishy-washy, He is ever true. Nothing moves Him. Nothing overwhelms Him. Nothing overcomes Him. Nothing surprises Him.  He never has to say, “Ooops.” He never has to say, “My bad.” He never does a face plant. He never slaps Himself on the forehead and says, “I should have had a V-8.” 🙂

God is always the same. He never changes. He never waffles. He never has to say, “I forgot about that.” God is my hope. God is my rock. God is never-changing. God is my firm foundation. (Check out this song). This Resurrection season I pray you know that truth because that truth is the anchor for our hope.

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April 16

Wednesday, April 16th, 2025

Unknown people are often the ones we need to learn about the most and take lessons from.

For example, Katherine Wright. Chances are pretty good you may know someone by that name. But not this Katherine. Recently one of the men in the church gave a communion thought on Katherine. You may be more familiar with her brothers-Orville and Wilbur-who invented, built, and flew the first successful airplane in the early 1900s.  Because of their prominence many, perhaps most, have never heard of Katherine. Yet in their successful endeavor of building a “flying machine,” Katherine was vital to their success. While they concentrated on the details that brought them success, Katherine was quietly behind the scenes essential to their success. You may be thinking, “But I’ve never heard of her!” Exactly! That’s my point. She kept their bicycle shop going (her brother’s source of income), left her teaching job to nurse Orville back to health after a plane crash, and managed the details of their growing fame.

Katherine is a perfect example of someone who knows their role and fulfills it. Up front or behind the scenes, it takes all kinds of people to do essential things. In this case helping her brothers reset travel. (Do you think they envisioned air travel today back in their early days? I think not). Anyway, Katherine chose her spot and filled it with grace and service.  We have people like that today who do just that. For every up front people who likes/desires the limelight, there is someone behind the scenes doing the camera work, the script writing, the sound board, the live stream, fixing communion (in a church setting), teaching a kid’s class while the adults are meeting, and a myriad of other tasks. My wife is one of those people. Every week she makes me look like I know what I’m doing by typing and showing the Power Point during my sermons. She has been doing this for more than the 19 years we have been here.  She knows me like a glove and even when I mess up, she covers me. 

She is just like the ONE we celebrate and remember this week as we head  toward Resurrection Sunday. This week is often called Holy Week because it is the last week of Jesus’ earthly life. From His entrance into Jerusalem on a donkey to His crucifixion and resurrection one week later, His whole life was one of being a servant. He showed us how to a servant throughout His life; demonstrated it the night He washed the disciples’ feet; then willingly laid down His life on the cross. For all for us. We could ask for no greater example than Him.

Follow in His footsteps. Serve, even if it is in the shadows. “There is no greater love than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”

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April 15

Tuesday, April 15th, 2025

“You talk at an audience, but you talk with people.”  (Quote from The Dancing King by Glynn Young-p.131). I’m going to continue with my thoughts that The Dancing King spurred within me as I finished my reread of Book #3 in the series of 5. 

Interviewing for a job with the king, Jay said the preceding quote to King Michael.  Previous to that quote, Jay said this: “What struck me (after listening to Michael preach) about all of this is that you’re not a brand, but a person, a breathing, living person, and that comes through clearly in the videos and interview, but especially in the sermons. And from what I could tell, you want to talk with people, not communicate at them. Most communications people think of everyone as an audience, and I hate that. You talk at an audience, but you talk with people. And it seems to me that everything I’ve seen and read about you suggests that you want to talk  with people.” (pp.130-131) 

As a pastor, as a speaker, that statement hit the nail on the head. I honestly don’t care about branding (whatever that is and entails). I sincerely pray each Sunday that I am not in the pulpit to impress people or to WOW people. (I surely fail in that).  What I do want to do is plainly and clearly present the truth of the Gospel of Jesus and His love for each and every one of us. To borrow another quote from the book: “God does not ask me to campaign for social justice. He does not ask me to promote cultural pluralism. He does not tell me to promote inclusiveness as the only virtue left in a country that seems to have been stripped bare of its moral virtues (Note: he was speaking of the UK in the book but…). And he does not ask me to promote tolerance, because he knows that my efforts to promote tolerance will actually create intolerance.” (p.330).  And then the coup de grace: “He simply says, find the lost. Serve my people. Preach the gospel. Feed my sheep. Tend to my lambs. Disciple my flock. Watch over my people. Love them as you would love yourself. Love me with all your heart, and soul, and mind. Worship me, your Lord God, and not the false idols you have set up on the altars of your heart.” (p.330)

I was strangely challenged to take stock of my preaching and my love for the people of the church God has asked me to pastor after I read that. I wore a t-shirt Sunday that said, “This Pastor has an awesome congregation.”  I firmly believe that.  I want to be nowhere else and have no desire to be a mega church pastor.  My heart is here.  I am blessed with people who love me and have loved me for over 19 years.  And I thank God He has allowed me to love them back.

So ends my comments on Book #3. I suggest you read the books for yourself. 🙂

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April 14

Monday, April 14th, 2025

Start With Why. That is the name of a book by Simon Sinek that sits on my desk saying, “Read me! Read me!” 🙂 After reading multiple books on leadership for the first two months of the year, I needed to take a break. Sinek’s book was one that hit the “put off till later” batch.  From the back cover are the following words: “Any person or organization can explain what they do; some can explain how they are different or better; but very few can clearly articulate why. WHY is not about money or profit-those are the results. WHY is the thing that inspires us and inspires those around us.” 

As I have mentioned in previous posts, I am rereading Glynn Young’s Dancing Priest series. I just finished Book #3 and have started #4. In Book #3 (known as the Dancing King) Michael Kent-Hughes has assumed the throne of England. But not before efforts were made by adversaries to thwart that happening. In Book #2 an almost successful attempt was made upon Michael’s life, as well as his pregnant wife, Sarah, and their unborn baby. We were introduced to Michael’s brother, Henry in Book #1 and saw him take a more active role in Michael’s life in Book #2. As part of what was known as The Violence where the attempt was made on Michael’s and Sarah’s lives, Henry life was also affected. In his effort to know more about his brother, Michael found out Henry had been a practicing homosexual but had taken part in a church’s Exodus Ministry. As Michael learned more, the priest of St. Margaret’s church said this to Michael: “The struggle became worse once the two of you had met. He found that, far from rejecting him, you had opened your arms to him. He described it something like this, that all of his adult life he had people who wanted him for his wealth, for his position, for what they thought they could get from him, or for his body, but that you, the brother he had forced away so many years ago, you wanted him simply for himself. At first, he found it hard to believe. Then you invited him to stay with you in San Francisco. And he discovered that you loved him with a heartfelt, brotherly love, and asked nothing of him other than to be with him.” (p.120) 

All that to say: people know when we are with them to get something or to just be with them for them. The WHY question is huge. I guess I can’t really stop people from wanting something from me, but I can make sure my motives are pure when I am with others. It should not be for what can they give me or what I can get from them, but to simply enjoy their friendship and presence.  I love being with people who want nothing from me but to my friend and visa versa.

How about you?

{There is more coming from Book #3 but you really ought to read the whole series} 🙂

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